Bill aims to block misleading wording on local ballots

Updated 2:20 pm, Friday, January 13, 2017

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Paul Bettencourt

Paul Bettencourt

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Bill aims to block misleading wording on local ballots

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AUSTIN -- Local governments that try to mislead voters with confusing and deceptive ballot wording in local elections or try to thwart citizen petition drives would face penalties under legislation filed Friday.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, co-author of the Texas Ballot Integrity Act -- Senate Bill 488 -- said the measure was prompted by controversies in Houston and other cities over unclear ballot wording and attempts to thwart referendum drives by citizen groups.

"In some cases, Houston residents were required to spend more than $300,000 of their own money just to get city officials to follow the law, and city officials openly ignored their duties in regards to lawfully collected petitions that were submitted to the city," Bettencourt said.

"After hearing testimony from multiple citizens in multiple cities on multiple problems to multiple Supreme Court rulings, it became apparent that we needed to file this bill."

Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, is a co-sponsor of the bill that has been championed by conservative activist groups.

Under the measure, clear ballot wording would be required that "clearly defines the proposition being placed before voters," not dense legalese that average Texans can't understand. The bill would allow a court to rewrite the wording if the original version was found to be inaccurate.

In addition, the bill would prescribe a standard form for all referendum and recall petitions, to keep local officials from disqualifying a citizen initiative for technicalities, and would remove "overly broad and unfair restrictions" imposed by some citizens on who can collect petition signatures.

It would also allow courts to decide legal challenges to petition drives, to prevent the delay of elections, and would make the lower in a case pay the court costs of the winner.

Court challenges of local petition drives have been an issue in Houston, San Marcos and other cities in Texas in recent years. Complicated ballot language has drawn complaints in Austin and other cities from voters who said they were confused over whether to vote for or against.

In some instances, local governments have sued citizen groups to block them from exercising their right to initiative and referendum, Bettencourt said.

In Houston, litigation has swirled in recent years over a controversial drainage tax, on a 2015 referendum on the controversial Houston Equal Rights Ordinance and over a vote to change term limits for city officeholders from six to eight years.

On March 6, Texas voters will decide who will carry the Democratic party's mantle into the battle for governor and a slew of other statewide offices. Click here for full coverage of the primary elections. Find our voters guide here.